1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 52 Watching a Movie

"Honey, do you remember what day it is today?"

"National Day? What's wrong?"

"You forgot, today is our first wedding anniversary."

"I remember, so what?"

This rhetorical question stumped Chen Fusheng.

Yeah, so what?
Nobody cares about these things anymore.

Why worry about this? Just live each day to the fullest.

After his thoughts were clear, Chen Fusheng put all these so-called rituals behind him and exclaimed: "What a beautiful and innocent era!"
"Mom, you're here so early." Chen Fusheng heard the doorbell, got up to open the door, and greeted his mother. But not seeing his father, he couldn't help but ask, "Where's Dad?"

“Your dad is queuing up to buy you movie tickets. When I came over, there was already a long queue in front of the movie theater on Ning’an Road.”

"Is it really that popular?" Chen Fusheng was shocked by the news his mother brought.

I quickly got ready and headed out with my wife and mother-in-law.

I went to the cinema on Ning'an Road to meet up with Lao Chen.

When they arrived at the movie theater, they found that there were quite a few people buying tickets.

"Fusheng, you're here. I was just thinking of going to find you." Old Chen walked towards Chen Fusheng and the other two, holding four tickets in his hand.

"Dad, you got the tickets!"

Old Chen wiped the sweat from his sweat while queuing and said with a wry smile, "I queued in the wrong line, otherwise I would have bought it already."

Ok?
Chen Fusheng and the other two were slightly surprised.

Did you join the wrong line?
What does this mean?
Old Chen explained himself, "The side with the most people is selling a movie called 'Romance on Lushan Mountain'..."

There were relatively few people queuing to buy "Cow".

However, Old Chen did not say the second half of the sentence in front of his son.

But Chen Fusheng didn't care about this at all; instead, it resolved his doubts.

He said, "How could 'Cow' be a bestseller so soon after its release?"

It turned out to be a false alarm.

However, Chen Fusheng had heard of the movie "Romance on Lushan Mountain" before his time travel.

It is said to be one of the most popular movies of this era, and has even become a symbol of an era.

Chen Fusheng never expected that his film "Cow" would be released at the same time as "Romance on Lushan Mountain".

It seems they'll be completely dominated from start to finish.

As for overtaking, that's practically impossible.

Because the genre of "Cow" is relatively niche, and the plot is quite heavy, its target audience determines that it cannot become a phenomenon like a romance film that is suitable for all ages, such as "Romance on Lushan Mountain".

Chen Fusheng took the movie ticket from Lao Chen and glanced at the time. They had already missed the first showing, and the tickets they bought for the second showing meant they would have to wait about an hour.

At this moment, Chen Fusheng noticed that his wife's gaze was fixed on the group performing "Romance on Lushan Mountain," and he saw a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

It inevitably reminded me that today is their first wedding anniversary, and watching a romantic movie like this would actually be the best choice for them.

So Chen Fusheng suggested, "Why don't we buy another ticket for 'Romance on Lushan Mountain'? I heard it's a lighthearted and cheerful love story. 'Cow' is a bit heavy, so watching 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' afterward will make us feel a bit happier."

While queuing, Lao Chen overheard people next to him discussing the movie "Romance on Lushan Mountain" after watching it for the second time. They mentioned that the movie not only had kissing scenes but also featured actresses changing into dozens of outfits. This kind of movie had a significant impact on his values, so he was the first to step forward and distance himself from it.

When Old Chen refused, the mother-in-law looked at the young couple and, not wanting to be an eyesore, made the same excuse, saying her back was sore, and went home after watching "Cow".

In the end, only Chen Fusheng and Liu Xiaoli remained to watch the second movie.

After he finished queuing twice and bought his ticket for the next showing of "Romance on Lushan Mountain," the audience for "Cow" came out not long after.

"Comrade, is 'Cow' a good movie?"

As soon as the audience members came out of the cinema after watching "Cow," people immediately came to ask them questions.

"It's good, but it's a bit choking." "Didn't they say this movie won an award in some foreign country and made $100 million from foreigners? Why do you all look so heavy-hearted after watching it?" A middle-aged woman with a child and a slight accent asked in confusion.

"In a village, everyone except the protagonist and a cow survived. Everyone else was killed by those damned Japanese devils. Then the protagonist and the cow lived together on the mountain for ten years. How can we not feel heavy-hearted after watching that?" one viewer replied.

“Well, I have the kids with me, so we won’t watch ‘Cow’. We’ll watch ‘Romance on Lushan Mountain’ instead.”

This conversation took place right in front of Chen Fusheng. The audience, who had just finished watching "Cow," did not recognize him, and he did not go up to argue with them.

However, he could glimpse the whole picture from a small part and imagine that a similar scene was certainly playing out in many other places at the same time.

This phenomenon has a professional name—word of mouth!

"Let's go in, otherwise if there are too many people, our seats will be taken."

But actually, before the movie started, Chen Fusheng looked around and found that the theater wasn't full at all; the occupancy rate was probably only around 60-70%.

This attendance rate was quite good before Chen Fusheng's time travel, but in this era, it can only be considered average.

Because people nowadays have very limited entertainment options, a large number of people go to the movies.

How much?

Take the neighboring film "Romance on Lushan Mountain" as an example. According to incomplete statistics from later generations, it exceeded 5 million views in just one week after its release.

Even if the figure of 5 million is inflated, it is enough to demonstrate how prosperous my country's film market was during this period.

Currently, "Cow" has begun screening.

To be honest, this was only the second time Chen Fusheng had watched a movie he acted in, but it was the first time he had watched it with his family, so he still felt a sense of anticipation.

Not long after the movie started, Chen Fusheng felt a pair of soft, delicate hands grab his.

He turned his gaze to his wife and was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Wife, what's wrong?" Chen Fusheng reached out to wipe her face and asked softly.

"I didn't realize that acting was so hard, Brother Sheng. No wonder you lost more than 10 pounds when you came back last time."

Liu Xiaoli said, her voice choked with emotion.

The movie had only just begun, and she was already hesitant to continue watching.

"Actually, it's not that bad. It's not as hard as you think. My makeup was done by a makeup artist."

Liu Xiaoli knew that Chen Fusheng was just trying to comfort her.

However, she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of so many people, so after composing herself, she looked up at the screen in front of her.

But afterwards, Chen Fusheng held her hand in his palm the whole time.

Old Chen was relatively emotionally stable, but when he saw his son, who played Niu Er, carve "Niu Er's Tomb" on the mountain at the end, he couldn't help but tear up.

Now he finally understood why the previous group of moviegoers all had such somber expressions when they left the theater.

The mother-in-law cried several times. When she looked at her son-in-law again, she suddenly understood why foreigners were willing to pay $100 million to buy his movie.

Because it's worth it!
"Alright, don't be sad anymore. Let's go see 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' to cheer ourselves up." After the movie ended, Chen Fusheng patted his wife's sobbing shoulder to comfort her.

Throughout the entire series, no audience member recognized Chen Fusheng, because the character Niu Er he played in the show was a stark contrast to his current image.

Afterwards, Chen Fusheng took his wife to see "Romance on Lushan Mountain" again. The film tells a romantic and touching love story about Zhou Yun, the daughter of a former Kuomintang general, and Geng Hua, an ambitious young man from my country, who meet twice in Lushan Mountain and develop into lovers.

Watching this movie did help Liu Xiaoli to balance out the heavy mood she had felt after watching "Cow".

"Brother Sheng, you should act in more movies like this in the future, and stop acting in movies like 'Cow'."

"You're so generous to have your husband act in a romantic movie? Aren't you jealous?"

"Oh yeah, then you should just keep acting about living happily ever after with the cow, hahaha..."

"You dare to joke with me, huh? You better not run away."

"Just run..."

　Thank you to Shadow and Low-Key Brick for the 100-coin reward! Thank you everyone for reading and for your monthly tickets and recommendations!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)